Cyrus King of Persia: “Build The Temple of God!” 1-4 In the first year of Cyrus king of Persia—this fulfilled the Message ofGodpreached by Jeremiah—Godprodded Cyrus king of Persia to…

1-58 These are the people from the province who now returned from the captivity, exiles whom Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon had carried off captive. They returned to Jerusalem and Judah,…

The Building Begun: “The Foundation of the Temple Was Laid” 1-2 When the seventh month came and the Israelites had settled into their towns, the people assembled together in Jerusalem….

The Building Stopped: Cease Rebuilding in That City 1-2 Old enemies of Judah and Benjamin heard that the exiles were building The Temple of theGodof Israel. They came to Zerubbabel…

The Building Resumed: “Help the Leaders in the Rebuilding” 1-2 Meanwhile the prophets Haggai and Zechariah son of Iddo were preaching to the Jews in Judah and Jerusalem in the…

1-3 So King Darius ordered a search through the records in the archives in Babylon. Eventually a scroll was turned up in the fortress of Ecbatana over in the province…

Ezra Arrives 1-5 After all this, Ezra. It was during the reign of Artaxerxes king of Persia. Ezra was the son of Seraiah, son of Azariah, son of Hilkiah, son…

1-14 These are the family heads and those who signed up to go up with me from Babylon in the reign of Artaxerxes the king: From the family of Phinehas:…

Ezra Prays: “Look at Us . . . Guilty Before You” 1-2 After all this was done, the leaders came to me and said, “The People of Israel, priests and…

Ezra Takes Charge 2-3 Shecaniah son of Jehiel of the family of Elam, acting as spokesman, said to Ezra: “We betrayed our God by marrying foreign wives from the people…